Expansible cabinet



Feb. 10, 1953 E. J. SLATTERY EXPANSIBLE CABINET 2 SHEET SSHEET 1 FiledNov. 28, 1947 Ficjil- INVENTOR. EDwAR n J- 5 LATTERY Feb. 10, 1953 E. J.SLATTERY 2,628,145

EXPANSIBLE CABINET Filed NOV. 28, 1947 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 E 5 nq-4 iJNVENTOR. EDWARQJ-EILATTERY gzi w' Patented Feb. 10, 1953 UNITED STATESOFFICE.

Edward J; Slattery-,:Montgomery County," Md."

Application November 28, 1947, Serial No'. '788,766.

1:5Claiinz. 1

My invention consists in a new and usefulim provement in cabinets andis-designed-toprovide a cabinet having'a combination of' a' plurality-ofcompartments and a plurality of tables; intended moreparticularlyfor're'ception oi sound" record discs and albums containing sam'e. Thepa-rticularly novel and useful features of my im proved cabinet are thecombination ofa pair'of centrally disposed superposed compartments ofconstant volume, the lower one of which isopen at its front and theupper'being closed at its front by a hinged door; and a pair otadjustable: lateral compartments, the volumes of whichmay beindependently-varied, the coverof the-upper: centralcompartmentconstituting table of constant area and the covers-of thelateral compartments constituting. tables of; variable areas:,. and. thenovel means .whereby theulateral: compartments may beiadjusted..

While I have. illustrated. in the. drawingsand have hereinafterfullydescribed .one specific: embodiment of my invention, it isr-toice-distinctly understood that I do not consider my; invention to belimited to said specific embodiment but-refer for its scope to the claimappended hereto;

In the drawings:

Fig. l'is aperspectiveviewof the cabinet, the upper compartment beingclosed, the lateral compartments: being inzextended position and aportion of the lower compartment being broken away to disclose itsinterior construction.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the cabinet, the upper compartment beingopen, the lateral compartments being in retracted position and a-portionof the: lower compartment being broken away to disclose the parts of theinterior constructionwhich have been movedfromuthe-ir positions as shownin Fig. 1,..b'y retraction of'the lateral compartments.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section on the line 3--3 of Fig. 4, inthe direction of thearrows.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged verticalsection on the line i4 of Fig. 3, in thedirection of the arrows.

Fig. 5 is a greatly enlargedfragmentary.perspective view of one oftlie.improved b'allfrollers for the lateral compartments with its mountingand one of the guide keys and its key-wayfor the lateral compartment.

Fig. 6- is a greatly enlargedvertical section on the line 66 of Fig. 4,inthe direction. of. the arrows, of. one of the ball rollers, itsmounting and the track in which it is received.

Fig, 7 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary.'vertical section of'one ofthesupporting rollers on the bottom of the outer ends of the lateralcompartments.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged'verti'cal section on'the line 8-8of Fig.1 3.1mthedirection' of the arrows.

As illustratedinlth'e drawings, my improved cabinet has an upper centralcompartment A, witha drawer B; alower central compartment C, and lateralcompartments D'a'nd E.

The cabinet' has toppanel' lmounted on side panels .2 and 31in which aremounted a bottom paneljfi'and. an upper intermedi'atepanel 5? g The toppanel i I ;,,upper. portions? of side panels-'2' and 3Tandi theintermediate panel" 5 comprehend the upper-compartment'A. Suitablysp aced'abovethe bottom; panel 4" there. is" a. lower intermediate panelfi'mount'edintheside pane'ls'i a'nd 3: The upper intermediate panel 5.,.lowerportions-of the sidepanelsll and? and the lower intermediate panel. 6'comprehend" the lower compartment- C.

A front panel "l"bene'a'th" the lower-intermediate panel 6.extendsbetween thesid'epanels and-'3. A clat -8 onthe bottom panel4*isparallel with the side panels" 2" and 3" and" midway therekietweemfor. a purposepresently explained: A secon'd'cleat (not'shown)issimilarlyjmountedon theupper intermediate panel 5.

The means for sli'dably mounting thed'ra'wer B are. shown iniFigs. 2; 3;4' and 8; the drawer 'IB heing'o'mitted'in Figs: 3' and tier-"clarity:Suitablyf mounted on the, side" panels 2" and 3' there are tracks 9f.Tracks I0 aremountedon-thesides of the drawer'B. Ball races H linterposed bet'ween the tracks 9*a'nd" lllcarry ball bearings l2 freelyrotatable" between" the opposed concave surfaces? l3andil4 'of thei;tracks 9- and It; respectively. A bumper IS on theforward end ofeach't'rackfl and'azbumper |5-a on-the rear end of "each track l 0 limitthe outward movement of thedrawer B; anda bumper I5-b on the rear end ofeach ofzthetracksBlimitsthe inwardmov'ement" of the'dra'wer B;

Since the-lateralcompartments D'and Ehave identical structural elementsand diifer only in their positions (left and right)- in-the-=- cabinet(Fig;.1) a" description of the structural element's of one. ofsaitl'ilat'eral compartments will suffice.

Each of "the'side'panels- 2'--and3 is provided with a suitably disposedand'configuredorifice It immediately"above"theupper surface of" theupper intermediate panel 5, and an identical orifice I I intermediatethe lower intermediate panel 6 and the"bottom*-panel-4 (Fig. 4).Eia'chlateral com partment has a top panel [8 and a bottom panel l9];slidable in theorifices l6 and-.- H'; respectively, and connected attheirouter endsby aniend panerztrl suitably'key-ways -z Iarecounter-sunk in the upper intermediate panel 5 and the bottom panel4, and the top and bottom panels 58 and operation will be obvious.

and 19 are provided with keys 22 slidable in said key-ways 2i (Figs. 3,4 and 5).

Suitably mounted on the rear and forward portions of the upperintermediate panel 5 there is a pair ofstruts 23 extending between theside panels 2 and 3 and spaced slightly from the sides of the top panelsl8. Each strut 23 has countersunk in its edge adjacent the side of apanel [8 a track 24 (U-shaped in cross-section). Each panel [8 isprovided on its inner end with a, plate 25 from the ends of whichproject pins 25 loosely received in bores 21 in ball rollers 28 rollablymounted in the tracks 24. It will be noted (Fig. 6) that the parts areso designed and related that the panels l8 are supported by the balls 26resting on the lower horizontal portions 24-a of the tracks 24 andnicely clearing the upper horizontal portions 24-h, and that the outervertical portions 24c of the tracks 24 are tangent to the surface of theballs 28. Similar struts 23 rear panel 29 extending between the sidepanels 2 and 3 downwardly from the top panel I. A door 38 for the uppercompartment A is mounted on the strut 23 at the front of the panel 5 byhinges 3| and provided with suitable spring detents 32 (Fig. 3).

The end panels 20 of the lateral compartments D and E are provided withrollers 33 journalled in sockets 34 counter-sunk in the bottom edges ofthe panels 20.

The drawer B is provided with the improved ,means for holding soundrecord discs described and claimed in my co-pending application, SerialNumber 779,819, filed October 14, 1947, now Patent No. 2,593,927.

From the foregoing description of the details of construction of myimproved cabinet, its use With a selected group of records disposed inthe drawer B, albums containing other groups of records, or empty al-.bums from which the records in the drawer B lateral compartments D andE which can be independently adjusted to provide adequate storage spaceaccording to the number of albums to be received therein. The tableprovided by the top panel I can be used to support the record player,or, if desired, the record player can be placed on one of thetablesprovided by either of the panels 13, and thepa'nel I may be usedto support a television set, a radio'set, or a lamp and ornaments. Ifdesired, a television set can be placed on panel I, a radio set ononepanel l8 and the record player on the other panel l8.

It is obvious that the adjustability of the lateral compartments D and Emakes it possible to regulate the width of the cabinet to conform mostdesirably with the space available in the room in which the cabinet isplaced. This is a feature of very considerable value in these day ofsmall apartments.

The improved supporting means for the lateral compartments D and E, viz.the tracks 24, balls 28 and rollers 33, insures ready and smooth lateraladjustment, and the keys 22 obviate any binding tendency, to facilitatetheir adjustment.

Having described my invention, what I claim In a cabinet, thecombination of a pair of side walls, each wall having an upperhorizontal slot and a lower horizontal slot; top and bottom wallsconnecting said side walls at their ends; a rear wall connecting saidside walls at their rear edges; a front panel connecting the lower endsof the front edges of said side walls; a pair of struts mounted on saidbottom wall, connecting said side walls, and disposed adjacent said rearwall and said front panel, respectively, each of said struts having atrack; a shelf mounted on said struts and said front panel andconnecting said side walls, said bottom wall, said struts and said shelfcomprehending a compartment to which access is provided by the lowerhorizontal slots of the side walls; a cleat mounted between said bottomwall and said shelf midway between said side walls and connecting saidstruts thereby dividing said compartment into two equal portions; anintermediate panel connecting said side walls, between said top wall andsaid shelf and extending from said rear wall to the forward edges ofsaid side walls, said upper horizontal slots of the side walls beingdisposed immediately above said intermediate panel; a pair of strutsmounted on said intermediate panel, connecting said side walls anddisposed adjacent said rear wall and the front edge of said intermediatepanel, respectively, each of said struts on said intermediate panelhaving a track; a pair of laterally-movable lower shelves receivedthrough said lower horizontal slots of the side walls and provided withmeans adapted to support said lower shelves on the tracks on the strutson the bottom wall, for movement into and out of the two portions ofsaid compartment, respectively; a pair of laterally-movable uppershelves received through said upper horizontal slots of the side wallsand provided with means adapted to support said upper shelve on thetracks on the struts on the intermediate panel; and a pair of end wallsconnecting the outer ends of said lower and upper shelves.

EDWARD J. SLAT'I'ERY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 463,932 Allison Nov. 24, 1891591,440 Washington Oct. 12, 1897 1,172,99 Carmine Feb. 22, 19161,372,229 Jelene Mar. 22, 1921 1,547,627 Thomas July 28, 1925 1,870,763Znidersic Aug. 9, 1932 2,233,559 Shields Mar. 4, 1941 2,258,667 WogulisOct. 14, 1941 2,293,210 Marzolf Aug. 18, 1942 2,370,861 J akeway Mar. 6,1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 61,372 Switzerland May 17, 1912705,692 France June 11, 1931 779,420 France Jan. 14, 1935 463,170 GreatBritain Mar. 23, 1937

